Would it surprise you to learn that a new survey by NDP finds that only about 6% of Americans have every tried a web-based productivity suite like Google Docs? How about that 99.95% are still using desktop-based tools?
It surprised me at first. But then I started thinking about why I don't use Google Docs, why I don't recommend Google Docs to my users and clients, and why I thought the data might show otherwise.
After, thinking about it a bit, I came to some reasons I think Google Docs is in the wrong timeline:
- The audience for a sophisticated web-based productivity suite is largely too young to care about "productivity tools" or even why they might care about using something else.
- The audience that decides what tools will be used is largely a generation not generally known for adopting new concepts.
- The audience looking for a new "productivity suite" isn't very large. The "big guys" are all locked up in licensing deals with serious investments in their current systems.
- Office isn't that expensive. Not compared to what happens if Google goes down for even one day.
- If all a productivity suite can do is the basics, there is no room for creativity, innovation, and that "edge". You'll never be able to do more than everyone else using the same platform. Boring.
- The obvious conflict of having your work in the hands of another company.
That all said, while I doubt the mainstream buy-in of complicated web application like an office suite will ever fly, I do like to see someone trying.
Tuesday, 18 December 2007 14:40